Monday, September 27, 2010

O.k. here is my layout a Chica's original!! HA! I had a terrible time being able to do this!! I hope I get better with time, but for now, please excuse the childish look of my LO and I hope that you do give it a chance; to be honest I did it with the Fillable Frame and Mat stack series in mind!! I am looking forward to see your creations!!!
Here is my card:

Please play and have fun
Mariana

Monday, August 23, 2010

Hey there Chickies!! It's Lauren here with this week's sketch challenge. With today being the first day of school, it's been a bit chaotic around here. So, I made things a little easier on myself and borrowed a sketch from Clean&Simple. It's sketch FTL67. It's a classic, clean design that can be interpreted with a million different focal images.

Being in a time crunch, I kept pretty closely to the sketch design.

I used Orange Zest and Spring Rain as my color pallette. I stamped the polka dots with Polk Dot Basics II and I added a subtle background text that you may not initially notice with Text Styles II. The center flower is the Beautiful Blooms dies #1 and I used some Hobby Lobby felt. The sentiment is from Signature Greetings and the patterened paper is Bitty Dot Basics. A little ribbon and a Dark Chocolate button, along with a few orange rhinestones finished off this nice and simple card.

Hope this sketch is simple enough to entice a few more participants this week. If anyone knows how to include a Mr. Linky, please let me know!!

I look forward to seeing what you all come up with!! ENJOY YOUR WEEK!!

Monday, July 26, 2010

This blog had been neglected a while now. Although my turn is next week, I thought I will get in early and put up a DT CASE challenge.This challenge runs for 2 weeks.

Here is Dawn Mcvey's cork tags she had on her blog. I loved the texture, the colors and the layers on these tags. I definitely wanted to CASE these. So I put it up for all of us if you are interested.

Case these tags as a set of 3 or 5! If you don't have cork, that fine! Substitute it with Kraft cardstock or Dark Chocolate cardstock and anything of your choice.Blog your creations and link your post here using the button below.

Have fun! Can't wait to see what you come up with.

Cheers!

Gayatri

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Hi folks, its my turn to post a challenge. A sketch challenge. I try to keep my cards kinda simple, and with that in mind, I hand drew (can ya tell?) my sketch for this weekend. I love using my PTI scallop dies. I don't have that many YOF dies but one that I absolutely love and use alot is the YOF-Violets. I'm not a copic girl so I really appreciate that I can use these stamps without the need for intense coloring. A little paper, embossing powder and, hey presto, you have a fantastic image.

Here's my take on the sketch. Can't wait to see what every one can do.

I don't know how to add the Mr. Linky so if someone could jump in, I would really appreciate it.

Have a great week.

Suzanne

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Hello everyone, Susan here. My apologies for being a day late. Kids home from school, in-laws due here any day and a computer crash has kept me busy. But I hope that the projects I created for this challenge inspire you.

This week's challenge is Paper Piecing. I absolutely love to stamp my images onto patterned paper! It can give it a fresh and new life. PTI's Die have made paper piecing much, much easier than cutting out by hand. I only own the butterfly die, so the rest of my images were done old school. ;) But I find cutting very therapeutic so I don't mind.

My first paper piecing project is a cute little baby card. I stamped the bear onto some October Afternoon paper and cut him out. Next, I stamped the sentiment onto the same paper and added a button. A few more layers here and there, some ribbon and viola. Done. Took me no time at all!

Next I thought I'd whip out a quick 3x3 card using PTI's Bitty Dots Paper. I stamped the largest Dahlia onto it, cut it out, then adhered it to the card and added a sentiment. Talk about quick! When I have some free time I'm going to make five more in varying colors to make a complete set.

Since those two cards came out so nicely and quickly, I decided to throw together a scrapbook page. I've been wanting to get back into it so I thought this was just the perfect excuse. But boy do I feel rusty!! I wasn't sure where to start. I knew that I wanted to scrap about my daughter's room since the paint is an exact match for Hawaiian Shores. And I wanted to use the Butterflies from Butterfly Dreams. So I started die cutting and stamping the butterflies again using the PTI Bitty Dots Paper. I stamped the title onto some white twill ribbon, adhered the pictures. I added a paper pieced Dahlia flower, the journaling block and buttons.

So now you can see how paper piecing adds a nice touch to your projects without a lot of work involved. I hope you have fun if you decide to try out this challenge!

Monday, June 14, 2010

Hello everyone! This week we are going to CASE another of the wonderful PTI designers. I chose, surprise surprise, Debbie Olson. I love her precision and choice of colors, her cards always look so professional!

Anyway, this card grabbed my attention, and I have been wanting to do a version of it ever since.

Here is my version! I switched up the colors, and changed the main focal point flower, but otherwise left the layout alone. You can get details over on my blog.

So add your version of Debbie's card to the InLinkz below! See you there!

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Hi my name is Suzanne Daniels. I have been MIA lately and do apologize, however life has thrown us some curve balls lately. Where do I start? I am 43 years old, originally from Dublin, Ireland. I married Otis 17 years ago this December. We have three beautiful children, Sara (13), Leo (11) and Billie (8). We live in Columbus, Georgia and have lived here since 2005, prior to that we lived in Ireland. I love to cook, I have so many cookbooks, its almost like an addiction. I have just started trying to sew. So far I have made two quilts (with the girls commandeered) and one apron for my washing line, for keeping the pegs in. About a year ago I discovered canning and this opened up a whole new world for me. So far I have made Strawberry Jam, Peach Mint Salsa, Cherry Almond Jam and I am pickling my very own homegrown banana peppers as I type this.

I have always crafted in some form or another. In Ireland I knitted. My mom taught me to knit when I was about 10. Used to knit all our sweaters every year, in Ireland, we needed them. Not to much use for sweaters in Georgia! A little too hot and humid. I also cross stitched back in Ireland. In Dublin we had a book shop called Easons and it was one of my favourite shops. I would go into the magazine section and they would have all the American Craft magazines there. I would spend hours in that shop. One of the magazines I think was called Cross Stitch World and I bought that magazine religiously every month. Bookshops have always been a favorite hangout of mine. Even now, I can easily lose myself for an hour or two in Barnes & Nobles.

Then we moved to the States and I discovered scrapbooking on QVC of all places. I had never seen anything quite like it. I had always been one to keep mementos of special occasions, or of the projects the kids would bring home from school and would keep everything in envelopes of all kinds and sizes. All of a sudden my envelopes had "meaning" and I dived in with gusto. I just loved it. All these pretty papers, and embelishments. I was in heaven.

I'm not to sure how I discovered card making but it seemed like a natural progression. I have always loved giving cards and I discovered that by making them, I could personalise them just that little bit more. I came across Papertrey quite by accident. I was a regular lurker on Michelle Wooderson's Blog and the rest, well the rest is kinda history. I have been a customer for just over a year.

Suzanne

Sunday, June 6, 2010

It's summertime! And do you know what I really love doing during this warm season? Packing my old and trusted picnic baskets with delicious outdoor foods grab a gingham throw and heading out for a relaxed summer picnic with friends or family. Picnics or outdoor meals are always perfect times for family bonding and catching up with friends. There is something about the simplicity of picnic that makes it a relaxed activity while being so much fun.

I love the memories that gingham invokes. Just seeing that pattern says summer picnic to me. So this week's Color and Inspiration Challenge is Picnics!

Use the just the inspiration, the colors or both in your card or other project. Use images of baskets, gardens, swings, trees, foods, striped backgrounds, designer paper with picnic themes...whatever you wish. Create somthing "picnicy". It can be a card or other crafty item.

Our colors this week are Pure Poppy, Kraft and White.

Monday, May 31, 2010

Hello everyone, Happy Memorial Day and a big Thank You to all of you who have served, currently serving, or support those serving in the military. You've fought to assure us the freedoms we enjoy and for that, I am truly thankful.

This week's Challenge is a bonus, unscheduled challenge. This week, take the first letter of your first name, and create a card with a theme that starts with that letter. For instance, for me, my name is Beth, so I could choose "balloons", "beads", "bugs", "bears", etc.

I choose "B" for Baby. Here is my baby gift card, which I made to hold a Babies'R'Us gift card for my cousin.

Monday, May 24, 2010

Good afternoon everyone!! I did not forget about the post, I was just late!! I know you are all like me in the last stretch of the school year, parties, gifts and whatnot!! So I decided to "multitask" this being my Challenge post and also my Girl Scout project; our closing ceremony is tomorrow and we have to exchange swaps, our girls wanted something related to "April Showers" and I thought: Felt, dies, yum!! So here is our swap, a pretty little pin made out of felt, I tried to get inspiration from PTI colors, (but I did not use any PTI, sorry, we just had to make so many!!!) I used the nesties to make the two base layers in what to me looks like Spring rain and summer sun, and the umbrella is another circle nestie in a raspberry fizz look alike! In the lower right corner we are stamping our troop number, sort of postal stamp look.
So what are you cooking for the Blog Hop!! I am really looking forward to all the inspiration and fun!

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Hola!
Hi everybody, my name is Mariana, this year I’ll be 40! I am married to my best friend, we met each when we were 8! We have 3 of the most gorgeous but noisy and high maintenance kids you have ever seen, Anna(10), Emilio(5) and Valentina(1), we are from Mexico but have been living in the States for the last 15 years!! I started scrapbooking when I lived in Rochester, NY , but kind of abandoned it; when my daughter was born I took it up again but sporadically, I really got into scrapbooking about 5 years ago and love it! Two years ago a friend invited me to a SU! Stamp camp, for Christmas cards and I loved it; we started a card club, since then most of my cards came from ideas from our demo, just recently started to try and create on my own, I am definitely in search of a style and still feel a bit intimidated, I joined this group in hopes of finding inspiration and motivation although with 3 little ones is sometimes challenging to find the time to be crafty, specially if your baby doesn’t want to nap or naps from 9 to 10 in the morning!!
I confess I was a bit afraid when I visited your blogs thinking, ugh!! I am anywhere close to be as good as this ladies! But I am finding that it can be good, I am looking at cardmaking with new eyes, trying to be more attentive to detail in my cards, to give them that extra wow, I haven’t “got it” yet, but I think I am on my way, so thank you for the push and the inspiration!!
I also have to apologize to you, because after 15 years in the states AND with a daughter in 4th grade I SHOULD know at least a bit of grammar and tenses, but…..sadly I don’t, I confess myself a coma abuser, a tense neglecter and many other crimes against this beautiful language, so please forgive me!!
I am really happy to be part of the Papertrey Chicks, since I found the PTI products I feel like I am closer to find a style, their products are amazing!!
So let's craft together!!
Thanks
Mariana

Monday, May 10, 2010

This weeks challenge is to case a card selected from the PTI Design Team Gallery. I chose this card by Betsy Veldman. I just kept coming back to this card - maybe it was the colors or sweetness. So, your challenge is to use this as your inspiration and to case it.

Monday, May 3, 2010

Hi, friends. It's Chris (cdjks) with the first official challenge here at Papertrey Chicks! This week and every first Monday of the month will be an Inspiration & Color Challenge. I found a fun web site for color combinations the other day, and that's where I got this combination. As I worked with it, I found it to be quite a challenge indeed!

My sample card uses the FTL 86 layout from the Clean & Simple blog. A little bit bright, but fun. I'm can't wait to see what you come up with for these colors.

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Hi, everyone! My name is Cari Lundell, and I'm super excited to be part of the Papertrey Chicks!

I'm a 35-year-old, married mother of two, and I live in Denver, Colorado. I've been married to a manly-man, Mark, for almost 13 years now, and our children are Emily (8) and Isaac (4). I currently stay at home with our kids (and love it!) but before we had kids, I worked in Information Systems. I got my degree at BYU in Management Information Systems, and enjoyed my work.

I started crafting as a child, doing whatever crafts came my direction. Nobody, and I mean NOBODY, else in my family is crafty, not in any way. I am the odd duck that way! I started scrapbooking in Junior High, just sticking little keepsakes and photos in one of those old "magnetic" photo books ( you all remember the kind, that were horrible for our photos! I have since moved them all to acid-free paper!). I did that all through high school and college, and in college I discovered stamping!

Man, I love to stamp. Once I discovered card-making, every other craft took a back seat. I started accumulating stamps and supplies at the age of 19, so that's 16 years of collecting! I especially adore trying and perfecting new techniques. Stamping and creating has become therapeutic for me, it especially helps me in the winter months, when I struggle with Seasonal Affective Disorder. My husband is a good man, and supports my hobby and encourages me to chase my little dreams. I discovered Papertrey a little over two years ago, and have been hooked ever since! I rarely buy stamps from anyone else now, I love the clean lines and versatility of PTI stamps.

I jumped into blogging just over two months ago, and I find myself actually enjoying the ride! I've lurked on the PTI boards for two years, and am so glad I finally started posting and getting involved. All of you are wonderful, and I look forward to getting to know you all better on here!

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Hello everyone, I'm Leigh Ann Baird aka Annie B aka Annie21211 on most forums. I'm a southern girl and have lived in East Tennessee all my life. I have a husband of 12 years ( I still like him well enough) and 2 daughters-- Elizabeth just turned 9 and Natalie is 6. I worked in mortgage lending before deciding to stay at home with the kids 7 years ago. When I am not stamping, I am avoiding housework by reading. I'm also a Sci-Fi nerd and enjoy horror and action movies--yes, I ENJOY them! I don't watch much TV since Battlestar Galactica went off the air. *sigh* Oh, and I used to be an excellent speller until I had kids, quit work and my brain turned to mush! LOL

I'm happy to be part of this group and look forward to our challenges and getting to know everyone. I've met so many wonderful people through this hobby of mine and hope to meet many more.

Saturday, April 24, 2010

I go by sillyleann just about everywhere I go on the internet whether crafting related or not. I am married to the absolute love of my life. We are celebrating our 10th Anniversary the sixth of May. I am a SAHM with 2 delightful children. I have a 6 year old boy and a 3 year old daughter. They seriously light up my life and are so precious. I think I could write a book about the conversations we have and the crazy concocted things they say. I have a 7 year old boxer. She is a great dog, but at times we have a love/hate relationship (it's the snoring, whining, . . . ) I am a huge Survivor fan. It is the only must-see show for us - although I thoroughly enjoy Dancing with the Stars, the Bachelor, Biggest Loser, Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution . . . can you say reality junkie! I am a Mac fan. I am a snob about it. I do not like Windows anything and don't want to discuss it. My husband says it is an obsession and I should seek counseling. I am willing but, I am afraid it would bring up all my neurotic tendencies and that is a scary place to go. :) Speaking of neurotic, I am a self diagnosed obsessive compulsive. Again, my husband says I should seek counseling but read above. I think I have a somewhat twisted sense of humor and that is okay as long as you laugh with me and not at me.

I have been crafting most of my life. I started "scrapbooking", so-to-speak, since I was around 7. My dad bought me a camera one day around my 7th birthday (I don't even remember why). It was a 110 (not a 35mm) and took that funny long skinny film thing (it sounds like I was born in the 20's, but I really am 32). I began taking pictures and putting them in photo albums. I would find magazine pictures, make construction paper titles, create overlays, etc to put in the photo sleeves and around the photos. I didn't know about real scrapbooking, so this is what I dreamed up. When I first learned that scrapbooking was a thing, I fell instantly in love. Years later, I got a digital camera for college graduation and realized that it seemed silly to print the pictures and then scrap. So, I thought I was clever to make these collage things - the predecessor to digiscrap. Oh, looking back they were horrible. I thought everyone should be doing this and thought I had invented something. Well, about 4 years later a google search turned up a whole new world - digital scrapbooking. Oh, technically I had been digiscraping, but nothing like my new discovery. That was 6 years ago and I haven't gone back. Although I knew I would never scrapbook again, I was having paper crafting withdrawals. I made a few digital cards (before hybrid was a word). But I never really got the same satisfaction from it as I did digital scrapbooking. So, I pulled out my dusty scrapbook stuff and went to work. I was hooked! I bought my first stamp (does anyone remember when stamps came on wooden blocks?) and haven't looked back. After exhausting my local Hobby Lobby of anything cute, I went looking in other places. Viola - PTI!

I am super excited to be a part of the Papertrey Chicks. I love, love, LOVE making cards. My dream is to someday get published. But, I enjoy it and find it extremely rewarding. My husband and I started a letters ministry. It sounds fancier than it really is. We just go through the church directory and/or our personal contacts and send real, handwritten letters inside the cards that I make. It has been so interesting to see the response. I am blown away how such a simple act can be so significant to others. I do sell my cards at a local store. Trust me when I say - don't quit your day job. I put all my earnings back into PTI (and a few small places here and there). While I currently wouldn't be able to support my family on it, it does support my hobby (cough . . . addiction).

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Hey there, Papertrey Chicks! My name is Carrie and I live in Gaithersburg, MD. I've got these two lovely girls you see to your left and a great husband of 13 years!

I got my degree in Health Sciences and a minor in Secondary Education. I taught Health Education for 5 years at the high school I graduated from. I met my husband through a blind date my first year of teaching. We married and then two years later, we bought the company he worked for since 1990.

So now I'm co-owner of a Turf Grass Seed & Supply company. Man--quite a career change!

I'm the Executive Director of a Non-Profit Seed Trade Association that keeps me traveling a few times a year and in touch with some of the most wonderful people around the country. (Who knew Seed People would be interesting and wonderful??)

My husband and I are co-leaders of our local Community 4H Club and I am a mentor at the middle school where my oldest goes.

I've always wanted to be naturally crafty ever since I was little. I'm not talented in terms of drawing or color matching, etc. My brother is a great artist! I think I've perfected the art of CASE'ing...though...

I started scrapbooking in high school...and that carried through to when my Bird (one on the right) was born in 2001. Then, I met my best friend in the entire world, Suzanne--my craft crazy sister.

I met Suzanne through our neighborhood book club. Our book club is very close and Suzanne & I's relationship grew from there. She's very CRAFTY!! She was a hobby seamstress, but I would've considered her a professional.

She introduced me to the world of paper in 2002. At first, we said we'd NEVER stamp. We'd make cards withOUT stamping. Well, then we got introducted to SU....and then the tidal wave began! We absolutely LOVE PTI.

Now, our conversations are mainly of cards...who's blog we visited...and...if you pop to my blog, you'll see how we've been using our PTI colors in REAL LIFE!

I'm looking forward to this--may not get this long of a post every week...and I'm SO GLAD I've got until August 16th until I've got to show a technique! I'm up for it though...

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

My name is Gayatri Murali, procounced as Ga-yath-3. I live in Australia with my husband of 12 years and two children. My son Siddarth is 10 years old and daughter Aditi is 8years old. I am a Mental Heath Professional but currently a SAHM. Its a deliberate decision so kids get more quality time from me and I too have some time for myself ( to craft, of course! lol!). I am enjoying it.

I have been doing craft since my childhood, cross stitch, embroidery, tin embossing, soft toy making, carving, jewellery making but since 4 years, I have been scrapbooking and cardmaking. I enjoy craft and the idea of making something new excites me.Love giving out handmade gifts. I have done guest designing and designing for scrapbooking stores on and off. Cardmaking has taken over scrapbooking recently. Looove stamping.

I am a SU demo (well!, until the end of this quarter) but PTI stamps and DT cards have inspired me a lot. I think PTI stamps are unique and I love their style. So addicted to PTI that I am not going to last as a SU demo any longer. lol! I also teach school kids to make cards once a week. Its very fulfilling.

I am thrilled to be part of Papertrey Chicks group and can't wait to start on challenges and get inspired, hop blogs and make friends. Thanks for having me in the group. Looking forward to knowing all of you.

Gayatri

Friday, April 16, 2010

I'm Liz or Beth (I answer to both). This is the downfall to having a name that has many nicknames. I've been called Elizabeth, Liz, Lizzy, Beth, Bethy, Betsy, Betty, Lisa, Lucy...just call, I'll answer to something. I grew up in the same area I am in and have been blessed enough to travel all over the world growing up. I am an only child to two of the best parents in the world who celebrate their 50th Wedding Anniversary this year (Big Party!).

I turn the BIG 4-0 this year! I live in Fairfield County, CT with my fiancee, John, my son, Jonathan and two Pomeranian pups; Callie, our 10 yr old “mamma”, and Bella, our 6 mo old, better known as “Sweet Pea”. John has 8 brothers and sisters, so I am marrying into a foreign world of lots of siblings. Oh, the drama...I am so not used to that! I work full time at Mercer, a division of Marsh & McLennan as a Senior Admin. We are a Human Resources consulting company and are hoping busy now with all these health care changes.

I was married for 10 years, divorced for 12 and have met the man of my dreams now. We're engaged and our wedding date has been set for October 1, 2011. It has been a long, long time coming. We've been dating for 9 years and engaged for 2. John is from Tennessee, so this is definitely a North and South Union. Oddly, I'm the one that is "A Little Bit Country" and he's definately the one that's "A Little Bit Rock and Roll". We may be opposites, but he is my soulmate.

My son is 16 and has “special needs”. He has a form of autism called Asperger's Syndrome. He does well in school, usually making honor roll, but has social and motor skill difficulties. He's just transitioned back to the local High School from a private school for kids with autism and he is doing great! Lots of new friends and he's involved in a lot of activities. He had such a rough go when he was little, but now he is a dream as a teenager. I am so proud of him and how far he's come.

I enjoy reading Christian Historical fiction and role-playing games. I love slipping into a character and playing that role out. I can be anything I want to be. This is where the name Bethshaya came from. Olde English nickname for my real name. I've been a master sleuth detective with OCD on a crime laden paradise island, an adviser to King Arthur in Camelot, and a medic on the planet of Naboo among others. I met John in “Camelot” and he became my “Knight in Shining Armor”. You can find out about my “Alter Egos” on my other blog: The Alter Ego.

I'm the newbie papercrafter of the group. Santa brought me all of my supplies this past year when I decided that I wanted to have a hobby other then online gaming. So be gentle on me, I'm still learning. I think my style is clean and simple, and I love my copics.

As a newbie, I've been looking for ways to create and try new things to get better. Since John's family is so large (I now have 30 nieces and nephews and 8 sets of in laws) I have plenty of occasions to create for. We have 4 nephews in the military with 1 on active duty in the Pacific and 3 waiting for deployment orders, so we also have plenty of care kits going out all the time. (Cards are always welcome if you are interested in sending too).

I'm inspired by a lot of different design team people, but mostly the Papertrey Ink Design Team, Suzanne Dean, the Copic Queen and Becca Freeken from Amazing Paper Grace.

I'm very excited to join the Papertrey Chicks! I'm really looking forward to having challenges that will push me to try new things. I'm looking forward to "meeting" my fellow Chicks!

I can't wait for our first official challenge! Thanks for including me in the group!